Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction / Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction / Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ When We Remembered ❯ The Cell ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: The Cell

 

“Why don't you let me talk to her?”

Sanzo gave the kappa a withering glare. As if he was going to let Gojyo sneak the girl away to one of the back rooms to administer his brand of comfort. He'd rather drag the information from her the hard way.

Gojyo held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, you can lead the interrogation.”

The girl actually seemed to be concerned about Goku's welfare and had set about arranging him comfortably on the couch under a quilted blanket. Sanzo and Gojyo cornered her as she stood up.

“Why did you stay behind?” Sanzo asked her.

The girl pursed her lips. “I'm here to stop the violence, not add to it. Sometimes Mistress Shihong doesn't know where to draw the line.”

“You tried to stop us from leaving,” Gojyo pointed out.

“Because we need you! You don't know what it's like - having something nearly within your grasp but seeing it fail again and again. Every day that I am still here, my family is out there suffering. It's my fault, because I was born this way. If I can't help them, then all my years here have been meaningless.”

Sanzo ground his teeth. That kind of talk just pissed him off. He glanced at Gojyo and sure enough the kappa was staring at the girl all sympathetic-like.

“Who was the youkai?” asked Gojyo softly. “Your mother or father?”

The girl ducked her head and dug her fists into the material of her skirt. “Father,” she said. “My mother was driven out of her village because of me, and the minus wave made my father become… well, you know.”

“Hn. And attaching yourself to another wacked out youkai was going to help things?”

“Mistress Shihong's not evil! And she's not a normal youkai; that's why the minus wave didn't affect her. She's done more for me than I could ever repay her for. It's just that we're running out of time, and she's getting desperate.”

“If you don't want this to get worse,” said Gojyo, “Just tell us where she's taking Hakkai. And who's this doctor she was going on about?”

The girl leaned away from him, suddenly hesitant. “Did you… is Master Han really dead?”

Gojyo glanced at Sanzo. “You wanna field that one, monk?”

“Yes, he's dead,” said Sanzo. “And that's all I'm going to say about it.”

“The doctor is the one who helped Mistress Shihong build the pool room,” said the girl. “And that's all I'm saying about him because that's all I know.”

“You know where they're going though,” said Sanzo.

“I… there's an abandoned temple a little ways west of here. That's where they meet. And that is all I know. But you shouldn't go there. Your friend's life won't be in danger unless Mistress Shihong feels threatened.”

Gojyo banged his fist against the wall. “I think the part where we gave her the benefit of the fucking doubt went out the window about twenty minutes ago.” He turned to Sanzo. “Do we wait till the chimp wakes up? It'll be easier with the three of us.”

Sanzo looked down at Goku's unconscious face. He looked like he was just having a nap, mouth gaping open sucking in loud breaths with a bead of drool beginning to pool on his lower lip. He didn't trust the girl, but he doubted she could cause the monkey any harm even when he was in this condition.

“He'll wake up hungry,” he told the girl. “You'd be wise to feed him.” Then he turned and headed for the doorway that Hakkai and Goku had made their appearance from.

Gojyo rushed into step behind him. “Oi, Sanzo, does that mean we're going? You know the way?”

Sanzo dug out his pack of cigarettes and stuck one his mouth, then counted the rest. Two left. It better not be a long trek. He shrugged. “How hard can it be?”

He felt Gojyo's eyes on him as they made their way into another long rocky tunnel, this time with stairs. Joy. “What?” he finally demanded.

The kappa quickly looked away and ran his fingers through his hair. “Nothing. Er… thanks for coming.”

Sanzo pulled out Gojyo's lighter that he had no intention of returning any time soon. “Whatever.”

 

 

***

 

Hakkai knew he was dreaming as soon as he opened his eyes. There was a time not so long ago when he would have found that odd. But lately it was simply the way of things. When he was not awake, he was dreaming, and when he was not dreaming, he was awake. The fact that he knew he was dreaming while he was dreaming had seemed odd at first, but the mind had a remarkable ability to adapt to such situations as they presented themselves. Truthfully, he didn't mind the dreams because, like everyone else in his group, he knew what it meant to be plagued by nightmares and these dreams, at the very least, were not that. But they still unsettled him in a vague, difficult to determine way. Perhaps because he'd actually begun to believe that the dreams were telling him the story of a previous life… and she wasn't in them.

He walked around in another man's body in these dreams, a man named Tenpou. A part of him very much liked being this man, he had to admit. In this strange, heavenly world he was confident and unashamed of his eccentricities. The type of guy who had his hand in everything behind the scenes and wonderfully, had no trace of the self-hatred Hakkai had struggled with since he committed the savage act that had earned him demonhood. It was like meeting another, more useful version of himself, and that was encouraging. It put this second chance he'd been given at his life in perspective.

And yet Kanan did not seem to exist in this dream. Perhaps that meant nothing; after all, what would be the point of a soul enduring multiple lives if those lives always played out in the same way, with the same cast of characters? Tenpou didn't seem particularly interested in attaching himself to anyone in that way. His life consisted of his books, his friends, his work, his soldiers; he didn't seem unhappy without a family. Perhaps that was their central difference, because deep in his heart, a family was what Hakkai longed for most. Their little travelling group could be a substitute for a time, and for a while he had almost convinced himself that companionship and a purpose was all he needed. But lately his heart had been… restless.

In the dream, Tenpou had been reading late into the night. He finally found the passage he'd been looking for and marked it. Then he stood and stretched, regarding the stacks of books and scrolls that surrounded him. He'd have to clean his office again, or rather hoodwink Kenren into doing it. The last time he'd managed to get Konzen and little Goku to do it and they'd wasted more time then they'd actually cleaned, but the memory made him smile anyway.

He noticed that the cigarette between his lips had nearly burned down to the filter so he stubbed it out and waltzed out of his office with a whistle. Despite the late hour, his mind felt clear and alive and the night air would feel good on his skin.

He ended up strolling beneath the sakura trees, taking in the scent of the blushing flowers as his mind rolled over the latest bits of war history he'd read. He was so deep in thought that he nearly walked right into a tree trunk. He caught himself just in time and stepped back, chucking at himself softly.

Then he realized someone else was laughing too.

His warrior instincts froze him behind the tree, but when his brain caught up a moment later, he relaxed. That was Kenren's laugh, unmistakably. He straightened his jacket and peered around the tree, wetting his lips in anticipation of a witty paraphrase.

The words caught in his throat. Kenren stood in the middle of the orchard, leaning with his arm braced against a tree, and he was not alone. A man with long hair that shone golden in the moonlight stood beside him. Konzen? What was he doing out here? For a moment Tenpou thought they must have come to find him, because he really couldn't imagine those two together on their own. Despite the little foursome friendship they had formed, those two still seemed more determined to annoy each other whenever they met.

And yet they seemed to be quite at peace now. Kenren was speaking, too low for Tenpou to hear, and Konzen leaned back against the tree and listened with his head bowed. As quietly as he could, Tenpou snuck a little closer, the thought of them having a civilized conversation too precious to miss.

“People down there are just different, y'know?” Kenren was saying, “It's a lot messier and more brutal, but somehow, I dunno, more honest I guess.”

“You would like that, wouldn't you?”

Kenren twisted so that his face hovered above Konzen's. “Promise you'll let me bring you down there sometime?”

“What, on one of your wild platoon parties? No thanks.”

“Well I'd say just the four of us, but we'd have more fun if we could sneak off alone.”

“You mean, you think you'd get some action.”

Kenren chuckled. “In a hard t'get mood tonight, huh? Hmm, let's see how long you can last.” And with that he bent down and captured Konzen's lips in a long, hard kiss.

Tenpou reached up to grab his cigarette before it fell from his mouth, then remembered he hadn't lit a new one yet. He watched the two men embracing for a minute longer, then stole back into the shadows and snuck away. Well, well, fancy that. Introducing those two had been a pet idea in his head long before it had ever happened. They were from such different worlds, drawing them together was bound to be interesting. He'd never have predicted this turn events though. Strange. Now he felt like a matchmaker. He tilted his head up and stared up at the moon. For the first time in a long time, he wondered if he'd been spending too much time with his books.

Inside, Hakkai thought, “… this life too?” and something within him threatened to crush.

He opened his eyes, and this time felt the dream slip away.

The first thing he saw in the cold greenish light was a stuffed rabbit propped up in a slouch across from his face.

“Hello, sleepy-head,” it said.

 

***

 

A small platoon of six guards was stationed outside the mouth of the tunnel.

“She really doesn't think much of us, does she?” Gojyo observed as he brought his elbow down on the last guard's head, sending him crumpling to the ground.

The gateway opened into a niche in the floor of the canyon. No sooner had they stepped out from its shadows then a whoosh of sliced air descended on them, accompanied by a loud “Kyuuuu!” Gojyo held out an arm for the little white dragon to land on. He scratched him affectionately behind its ear.

“Hey there, little guy. Did'ya see a really tall, flipped-out-of-her-gourd youkai woman, a bunch of soldiers and some red-haired chicks go by here? They've got Hakkai with them so we gotta track them down.”

In reply, the little dragon launched himself back into the air and transformed into his Jeep form on the spot.

“Oh thank god,” said Gojyo. “I really didn't want to hike it.”

Sanzo was already heading for the front seat. Gojyo quickly sidestepped ahead of him and took the driver's spot. At Sanzo's pointed glare of death, he merely shrugged. “Hey we both know how you drive. We wanna chase them down, not run them over and flip down the mountain.” He grinned. Today at least, his fine ass wouldn't have to get jostled around in the back seat.

Sanzo conceded with a grunt and took his usual spot. Gojyo smirked at him, jammed the stick into gear, and gunned it.

Hang on, Hakkai, we're coming.

 

About a mile up the canyon, Gojyo realized that he had no clue where they were going. A temple had failed to materialize and there'd been no sign of Shihong and her cronies.

“Uh, Sanzo…”

“You're fucking lost, aren't you?”

“Hey, you were the one who was so damn confident that we could find it.”

“She's got a couple dozen soldiers with her. Find their damn trail.”

“I'm driving. You find the damn trail.”

“Moron. They're not gonna parade through the canyon. They probably took a higher path.”

“If you knew that, dickface, why didn't you say so?” He suddenly wrenched the wheel and twisted the jeep into a skidding turn.

“The fuck?!” shouted Sanzo, bracing himself against the dash.

“I think I see a pass. Hang on, this won't be pretty.”

The wheels spun a bit in the loose gravel but they kept enough speed to make it up the slope. From there the road narrowed into a thin, twisting path that hugged the mountainside. Gojyo shifted gears and leaned forward in his seat, watching carefully to make sure the wheels stayed on solid ground.

The wind picked up and whipped his hair across his eyes. He swore and lifted up a hand to clear his vision. The steering wheel immediately jerked and he had to grip it tightly again to keep them on track. He had a sudden new respect for Hakkai and his skills at offroad driving.

The biting wind refused to leave him alone though. “Shit.”

“What now?”

“I can't see with my fucking hair in my face. Dammit. Could you put it up for me?”

“Do I look like a hairdresser?”

“C'mon, there's an elastic in my coat pocket somewhere. Just get it outa my eyes so I can keep us on the road.”

Sanzo let out a frustrated hiss as he leaned over and started groping through Gojyo's pockets. “Tell anyone about this and you're dead.”

Gojyo feigned a pout. “You don't like my hair? I grew it out just for you, y'know.”

“And then you whine every time you get it caught in something. Baby.”

“Mm, does that mean I get to call you baby too? Cause Sanzo-babe has a nice ring to it.”

Sanzo tugged hard on his hair, making him nearly veer off the road and by the time he'd gotten the wheel under control again he'd somehow ended up with Sanzo half in his lap, one of the monk's hands on top of his and the other still tangled in his hair.

Sanzo blushed an endearing shade of red and quickly scrambled back. But then he leaned back and used him nimble fingers to draw Gojyo's hair up into a surprisingly half-decent ponytail. Gojyo caught his hand as he pulled away and pressed a quick kiss on it.

An embarrassed silence fell between them during which Gojyo tried calculate his chances of survival if the monk decided to pull his gun and he had to jump from the jeep. He decided that he better hold off on the baby comments until they were on a less perilous path. But he couldn't help smirking when he noticed the way Sanzo was holding the hand he'd kissed tightly in his lap, fingers twitching like he wanted to rub it but didn't want Gojyo to see him do it.

“There!” Sanzo shouted suddenly, and Gojyo's attention was torn away to the mountains on his left. Half-hidden in the rock, he could make out the ruined archway of a high temple.

“Oh wonderful. We can't drive up there.”

“Tch. Just get close, idiot.”

“I'm trying, I'm trying. Jeez.”

He urged Jeep as far up the slope as he dared, then threw it into park and hopped out. Hakuryuu transformed as soon as Sanzo left his seat. The little dragon chirped at them then took to the sky - off to scout for Hakkai he guessed. Hakkai did take good care of his pet.

Gojyo took a good look up the slope up to the temple and groaned. If there were stairs, they were apparently on the other side of the mountain. This wouldn't be an easy climb. He looked over at Sanzo, glad the monk would at least share his pain.

Sanzo pushed him against the rock and clapped a hand over his mouth. He nodded upwards. Gojyo followed his eyes and saw a thin stone causeway stretching from the temple back into the mountainous terrain to the east. A group of figures marched along it, faintly recognizable as Shihong and her soldiers.

Sanzo's hand slipped from his mouth. “We caught up with them,” whispered Gojyo.

“So it seems,” said Sanzo.

“Let's go. We can take them. They're right there.”

“Moron. They'll see us coming before we even get close.” Sanzo tugged him down until they were crouching against the rock, out of sight. “Just wait until they go inside.”

Gojyo wiggled around impatiently, trying to find a spot where sharp rock didn't jab into his skin. He rubbed his hands together and started cracking his knuckles.

“Stop it,” Sanzo hissed.

“Stop what?” said Gojyo innocently. He cracked his knuckles again, even louder.

“Oh for fuck's sake.” Sanzo threw a leg over his and grabbed both of his wrists. “Can't you sit still for two minutes?”

“Can't you go two minutes without jumping in my lap?”

“Fine, run up there and get yourself killed. See if I fucking care.”

“Yeah and I bet you're really proud of that too. I bet if it was me up there you'd be halfway to the next town by now.”

“You'd bet I'd leave your dumbfuck ass if you were that stupid.”

Gojyo leaned in until their faces were just inches apart. “Cause I'm the expendable one, right?”

Sanzo's breath felt hot against his face. “You really are… fucking stupid.” The monk closed the distance between them and for a long, delicious minute his tongue replaced Gojyo's air. Gojyo's arms wrapped around him, his hands sneaking down automatically to cup the monk's bony ass. Then he remembered where they were and pulled back from the kiss with a gasp.

“Not here,” he muttered. “Not while…”

“Then sit still, shut up, and let me think.” Sanzo sat back on his heels and closed his eyes. Gojyo found himself watching the way the wind shifted his bangs. He had a sudden, burning, impossible desire to have known this man earlier in life, before so many worries of the world had been forced on him. And then maybe he could reminisce about just being horny teenagers making out in the back seat of a car to some goddawful music instead of always flashing back to that first memory of the monk arriving at his door and getting his face shoved in the dirt by yours truly.

Why was it that stuff like that kept pushing them together? It had been Hakkai that time too that he'd been trying to help. And even now, scaling a mountain to rescue the one good friend he'd managed to keep over the years, here was the damn monk at his side, confounding him once again.

Dammit, enough of this shit. “Can't we just climb up using my shakujou and wing it from there?”
Sanzo opened his eyes slowly. “Fine.”

Gojyo grinned. “Good, `cause you're going up first.”

Sanzo's eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Gojyo gave his ass a meaningful squeeze. “So I get the good view - OW!.”

“You should have stopped while you were ahead,” said Sanzo, and slipped his fan back into his sleeve.

 

***

 

“Nataku!” yelled Goku, and fell off the couch.

A shadow loomed over him and a hand reached out. He saw red. “Ngg, get away from me, perverted kappa.”

A stinging slap startled him awake. He found himself staring into red eyes, but a very much female face.

The girl didn't look happy at all. “What did you call me?!” she demanded.

Goku blinked. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were, uh…”

The girl stood up and crossed her arms. “If you mean one of your friends, they already left.”

“What?” Goku scrambled to his feet. Immediately, he searched for that place in himself that always seemed to have a good idea whether Sanzo was okay or not. He didn't have that bad stomach-achy feeling, but just the fact that Sanzo was out there somewhere without him made him uneasy. He looked around the room, but it was only him and the girl in it. There was no trace of the old lady who had suddenly gone all wacko. He didn't really know how she'd done it, but she'd managed to knock him out somehow. Man, he really needed to get stronger if some old woman could do him in.

“Who's Nataku?” asked the girl.

“Huh?”

“You kept saying that name while you were unconscious.”

Goku tried to remember. He'd been having some kind of dream, but it was fuzzy and he could only remember little pieces. But when the girl said that name, the face of a boy came into his mind. The face seemed familiar, like he'd dreamed of him before. That was kinda weird. The last time he'd had a weird dream like that was…

His stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

“Is there any of that food we made left?” he asked the girl.

She raised her eyebrows. “You really did wake up hungry.”

 

***

 

Shihong and her escorts had just reached the door of the temple when Sanzo pulled himself onto the causeway. His hands felt raw from climbing Gojyo's shakujou chain; he gritted his teeth and wiped them on his sleeve. Gojyo came up behind him and pushed past him.

“Shihong!” he yelled.

The tall youkai woman turned to face them. Her guards flanked her; armed to the teeth. Her choker had been replaced and she looked human again, but Sanzo still warily avoided looking her straight in the eye.

“Just give him back and we won't have to hurt you,” said Gojyo.

Shihong smiled. She raised her arms and gestured around her. “Give back who? I'm afraid you must be mistaken.”

Indeed, there was no sign of Hakkai. “Don't toy with me, bitch!” said Gojyo.

Casually, Sanzo pulled out a cigarette and lit it, using the action to cover his quick scan of the area. There were far less soldiers in this group than Shihong had left with originally, and the her red-haired underlings were nowhere in sight. That meant they'd split up somewhere along the road and most likely the side group had taken Hakkai with them. Sanzo sucked hard on his cig and wrapped his fingers around the gun inside his sleeve, but didn't draw it. As much as that woman deserved a good beatdown right now, if Hakkai had been taken somewhere else, there was no point wasting time here. Tch, and after he'd climbed up all this way too. That was the last time he listened to the kappa. Now they would have to backtrack and—

The clink of Gojyo's shakujo as he reeled in the chain made Sanzo refocus. Gojyo whirled the staff of his weapon around into a threatening posture and advanced towards Shihong.

“Tell me where he is,” said the kappa, “or I collect your fucking head, woman.”

Stupid idiot. He's gonna get himself killed or zapped unconscious and then I'll have to do everything myself. Sanzo growled under his breath.

“I'll make you a deal,” said Shihong. “Perhaps the whereabouts of your friend might become known to me if the monk there hands over that tablecloth he's got draped over his shoulders.”

Sanzo ground his teeth, “I should have known. You're just as insane as all the rest of them.” He touched the sutra to reassure himself. “Do you even know what this is?”

“I know it's become a valuable commodity,” said Shihong. “And I happen to collect valuable things that show up on my doorstep.”

“Well you and the rest of them can pry it from my cold dead hands. Get your ass back here, kappa. These scum aren't even worth the fight.”

“Like fuck,” yelled Gojyo. “She's gonna pay for what she did.”

“Moron, don't argue with me. Hakkai's clearly not here.”

Gojyou rounded on him. “That's why I'm gonna make her tell me!”

“Right, because you're that persuasive.”

“What the hell's your problem? If you didn't wanna get your pretty robes dirty your shoulda stayed in the jeep.”

“If you're not gonna use that fucking head of yours then you shouldn't try to dress it up.”

“Did you just insult my hair again?”

“No, I insulted your intelligence, shit-for-brains. If you can't use it properly, shut the hell up.”

“Well sorry I'm not fucking Einstein. At least I'm trying to get my friend back.”

“The only thing you've ever accomplished is getting us in more shit that we started off in.”

“Yeah well—”

Gojyo's remaining words were cut off as the ground suddenly shifted beneath their feet. Sanzo looked down and saw that they stood, not on stone or earth, but on a section of dirt-covered wood. Shit. He grabbed the kappa's arm and tried to run, but before he could get farther than a step, the wood fell away underneath him and he found himself falling into darkness.

 

***

 

Gojyo woke up aching all over, from the back of his head all the way down his spine to his left ankle that throbbed like a motherfucker. He tried to move and found that he was sprawled on his back at an awkward angle. He managed to raise himself up on his elbows and cringed as his back muscles protested the movement. Whatever hole he was in was too dark to see properly, but a little faint light was coming from somewhere on his right, and as his eyes adjusted he could make out the thick iron bars of a cell door. Great.

“Sanzo, you in here?” When he didn't hear a reply, he got up on his hands and knees and started feeling around. A lump in the corner looked suspiciously monkish, so he rolled it over and smiled with relief when he saw Sanzo's pale face scrunched up with annoyance as he struggled back to consciousness.

“Welcome back,” sad Gojyo, and couldn't resist reaching out a hand to brush back the monk's bangs a little.

Sanzo slapped the hand away and sat up, grumbling to himself. He winced and tried to rub his back. Gojyo snuck an arm around him and put his own fingers to work lightly massaging the sore muscles there. Sanzo scowled at him but bore the touch.

“Looks like we're in some kind of cell,” Gojyo told him, “but the bitch musta had something better to do cause I don't hear anyone. You shoulda just Makai Tenjou'd her ass when you had the chance, y'know.”

Sanzo's scowl deepened. “Shut up already.”

“Man, if Hakkai was here right now…”

“Then we wouldn't be down in this shithole.”

“I just meant the guy knows how to pick locks. Fuck, you're bitchy today. I would of thought…” Gojyo stopped and stared. “Uh… Sanzo…?”

The monk ignored him and mumbled something about losing a perfectly good cigarette.

“Sanzo, you're gone hate me for this, but is the sutra in your robes somewhere?”

“What?”

“Cause it's not on your shoulders…”

Sanzo's hands flew up to clutch at where the sutra should be. When they encountered nothing but the cloth of his robe, they clenched and started to shake. “That fucking bitch!”

“Don't freak out, okay? We'll get it back, I promise.”

“Freak out?!” Sanzo pushed away from him, eyes wild and burning. “This is all your fault, cockroach.”

“Sanzo…”

“Don't fucking talk to me! One more word out of your smart-ass throat and I'll rip it out. You can stay and rot in here for all I care. I'll get it back myself.” The monk started pacing around the cell, rattling the bars and slamming his fist into the walls.

Gojyo clenched his fists. Crap, the monk was gonna lose it. There was no reasoning with him when he got like this, but he wasn't about to wait for him to sulk it off either. So he did the only thing he could think of. He snuck up behind him and wrapped his arms around him as tight as he could.

Sanzo fought him like a caged animal, flailing and kicking at anything he could reach. Gojyo kept his arms locked and held on as best he could as the monk dug his feet into the floor and slammed him up against the wall. Gojyo spun them around and repaid the action and then it became a back and forth push and shove as they shifted around grunting and tugging at each other. At last Sanzo stopped fighting him and they stood silent and still for a minute just getting their breath back. Gojyo loosened his hold and pressed his face into Sanzo's hair. He wanted to say something comforting, but knowing him, he'd just ruin the moment.

“Sanzo,” he whispered, “just let me…”

The monk wrenched himself free and suddenly Gojyo found himself with his face in the dirt, his arm twisted behind his back and a hard knee digging into his spun.

“What the fuck? You stole that move from me, asshole.” Gojyo wiggled experimentally but couldn't find any leverage.

“And you were dumb enough to let it be used against you.”

Gojyo felt hot breath against his ear an instant before sharp teeth jabbed into the cartilage.

“Did you just bite me?”

Sanzo didn't answer, but a tongue replaced the teeth, tracing along his ear's outer shell. Gojyo took a shuddering breath. He wished he knew what was going on in the monk's screwed up head.

Sanzo shifted so that the painful knee rose off his spine and he felt the monk's weight come down and straddle him instead. Gojyo's arm remained pinned behind his back. The monk's other hand fisted in his hair and jerked his head to the side.

“Make it up to me,” Sanzo whispered.

“Huh?”

“If I think about it being gone… her touching it, I…” Sanzo nipped at Gojyo's neck, but gentler this time, coaxing.

“Don't think about it. We'll get out of here,” said Gojyo. “We'll get it back, and we'll get Hakkai back.”

“It's all I have left of him…” Sanzo let out a frustrated growl. Gojyo had a good idea who “him” was - Hakkai had told him that much, but he doubted talking about the people of his past was what the monk wanted right now.

“You want me to take your mind off it?” he offered. This wasn't exactly the place for what he wanted to do the next time he got the monk alone, but maybe they could both use a quick distraction.

“I want…” Sanzo let go of his hair and dipped his fingers under the waistband of Gojyo's jeans.

Gojyo's stomach flipped. Fuck, did he mean… he wasn't sure he was ready for that. He wasn't sure he'd ever be ready for that. He really needed some time to think about it.

Sanzo was apparently not in a patient mood, however. He finally let go of Gojyo's pinned arm and sat up on his knees, urging Gojyo to lift his hips by tugging on the loops of his jeans. Gojyo rolled onto his side instead. He shook his freed arm, trying to get the feeling back into it. Sanzo lifted off his golden breastplate, but made no further move to undress. Instead, he bent down and attacked Gojyo's mouth while his fingers fumbled at the button on his jeans.

Gojyo knew he should stop this now, but the damn monk tasted so good. When fingers finally dipped in to touch him through his boxers he couldn't help thrusting into to them. The teasing touch of gun-calloused fingertips drove away his doubts. Sanzo hands explored his skin, slipping under cloth, up his chest to circle a nipple then down again to scrape through his pubic hair and cup him firmly. Gojyo groaned into Sanzo's mouth and caught him by the back of the neck to forced his head to a better angle. The monk was already a better kisser than yesterday and for some reason that pleased Gojyo somewhere deep. Abruptly, Sanzo pulled back and pushed Gojyo's shoulder until he rolled back on his stomach. This was Sanzo's show and he was obviously feeding some fantasy here. Oh god, just the thought of Sanzo fantasizing about him… Gojyo forced down the uncertainties trying to crawl up his throat and lifted his hips so Sanzo could jerk his jeans and boxers down to mid-thigh.

Gojyo felt exposed; the sensation so unfamiliar that it stalled him. He buried his head in his arms and struggled to control the furious beating of his heart, trying not shudder as Sanzo's hands squeezed the flesh of his ass. He'd let chicks take the lead before, so this shouldn't be so hard, but dammit that had never involved getting another guy's dick shoved up his ass. Holy fuck, he'd never be able to make gay jokes again.

“Sanzo…” he started, but the name came out too pleading for his liking. He still had some pride; if Sanzo could take it so could he.

Sanzo's touch receded. He heard the rustling of cloth being shoved aside, then Sanzo's zipper coming down. Dammit, if the monk would just say something to put him at ease here…

Hands grabbed his hips, then slid up his sides. Sanzo nibbled at his ear again, his warm breath teasing Gojyo's skin in quick puffs. He could have sworn the monk was smelling his hair when a word slipped past his ear in a hushed, husky voice - a word he would have bet a year of smokes that he would never hear uttered from Sanzo's mouth.

“Please…”

Oh fuck, like he could refuse when he put it that way. Sanzo had such a sexy voice to begin with, much deeper than you'd expect from a pretty type like him, and he knew how to use it like a weapon. It cut into Gojyo now, compelling him to push up on his knees and rock back against Sanzo's hips. Sanzo moaned softly and thrust back, his open jeans scraping Gojyo's thighs as the monk's cock slid up the crack of his ass.

“Just fucking do it,” said Gojyo and then tensed up like a vice as he prayed to high heaven and that twisted sadist of a merciful goddess that Sanzo wouldn't take that as invitation to spear into him dry.

Sanzo pulled back a little and Gojyo braced for the worst but a moment later he felt a tentative finger probe him quickly, then return to smear him with some goddawfully cold substance. The faint jasmine smell of it filled the air.

“You bitch, did you steal my hand lotion too?”

“Mountain air is bad for my skin,” said Sanzo. “And in case you didn't notice, you're the bitch this time.” He thrust two fingers in.

Gojyo nearly bit his tongue. “Not so rough, you dick.”

“Then tell how to do it!”

“It's not brain surgery, remember?”

“You're the one who's not relaxing.”

“Just - oh fuck, there, do that again.”

The rest was rushed and crude and Sanzo seemed determined to treat his asshole like an insubordinate joker who had to be beaten into submission but by the time Sanzo had removed his fingers and positioned himself, sweat beaded Gojyo's skin and he felt like his cock had sucked half the blood from his body. Sanzo's hand on his hip trembled and he realized the monk must be nervous as fuck too.

Sanzo pushed in slow. Gojyo willed himself not to clench up. He freed one arm so he could reach down and fist his own erection since the monk sure as fuck wasn't doing anything about it. All he could hear from Sanzo now were the little grunts and catches in his breath as he inched his way into Gojyo bit by bit. That was no good. He couldn't see Sanzo from this position - he wanted to hear him more, feel them moving together. He rocked back and took the monk in to the hilt and hell yeah that felt better. Sanzo groaned and gave an experimental thrust.

“Dammit,” said Gojyo. “If you're gonna do me, do me hard.”

Sanzo grunted and delivered. No more words were needed then, just the punishing rhythm they both fell into quickly, Sanzo jerking forward and Gojyo pushing back until the slapping sound of their impacting flesh echoed through the small cell. Gojyo held himself on one arm digging into the dirt and controlled the angle of their hips until the monk pounded right where he wanted him, that oh-so-good spot and he knew he was moaning like a fucking whore but he didn't care; the monk was just as loud despite how he kept biting him through his jacket to muffle the sound.

When Sanzo finally clued in and reached around to take Gojyo in hand, he knew he wouldn't last long. Slow just wasn't on the menu here. He threw all his frustration and anxiety into the motion of their bodies and let the friction between them eat it up. Their skin slid together hot and raw and his body felt pressurized; innards compacted like a tight spring ready to explode.

Sanzo tugged at his balls and he gasped and splattered right there over the monk's hand and the dirty cell floor. Sanzo gave two final thrusts and followed, collapsing in a dead weight across Gojyo's back. They breathed in unison, panting away the dying rhythm of their coupling.

Finally, Sanzo pulled out of him and flopped onto the floor. He tucked himself back into his jeans and lay there staring up at the ceiling. For some reason, Gojyo didn't want to lose the heat they'd built so quickly. He tried to ignore the release that threatened to seep down his thighs and tugged his pants up. Then he crawled over to Sanzo and lay down alongside him, propping his head up on the monk's chest. When Sanzo didn't push him away, he settled in and started tracing the cracks in the ceiling with his eyes. He smiled when one of Sanzo's hands started playing with the ends of his hair.

“Oi, monk.”

“Hn.”

“Wanna lend me a smoke?”

“Ch. I only have one left.”

“Pleeeeaaase.”

“No.”

“We could share?”

“Oh for… fine.” Sanzo pulled out Gojyo's lighter and flicked back the lid.

Gojyo stared into the warm flame and wondered if he could distract the monk enough to sneak it back.